NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The Benedictine University men's soccer team dropped a 2-1 contest at North Central on Thursday.

All of the scoring happened in the second half. Benedictine played with 10 men for almost the entire contest following an early red card. North Central broke through in the 73rd minute to grab the lead and added a second following a corner kick in the 88th minute. Benedictine pressed and a minute later struck for a goal to pull within 2-1 when Bobby Kostadinov found the back of the net.

"Once again we were dealt some adversity early in the match," head coach Rich Nassif said. "I could not be prouder of the way our team responded after going down a man. It started with a saved penalty kick and continued as we kept North Central quite bottled up all the way into the final 20 minutes. Unfortunately, they capitalized on a chance before we could and that proved to be the difference."

North Central held a 12-2 advantage in shots. Steve Mack stopped seven shots in net for Benedictine. Kostadinov posted both shots for the Eagles.

"I thought our entire squad did a tremendous job of occupying the space, keeping their attack in front of us, and forcing them to play predictable or play into pressure," Nassif added. "This allowed us to manage the game and create some quality situations on the counter. Our brand of soccer was the best it has been all year in terms of ball movement and building as a team. Credit our guys for playing the game the right way despite being short a man for 80 minutes plus. Good things are coming for this group; that is for certain. The guys have absolutely bought into this team, this family, and the Benedictine Way of playing soccer. It showed tonight and soon enough, the results will turn in our favor."

Benedictine (1-5-1) opens conference play on Saturday afternoon with a 2:30 p.m. contest against Wisconsin Lutheran as part of homecoming.